Several descriptors come to mind while smoking this blend. Typical, basic, traditional, average, among others. When I think of English blends this one fits the mold exactly. The flavor profile is exactly what I would expect. It's very good, but not outstanding. There's nothing here that makes it stand out in a very crowded field. It's just a rock solid example of the genre. If this were the only English blend on planet Earth I would be satisfied with it. 3+

Plantation Evening (bulk) is a "full British" blend, but not a rich one. It has mild to medium strength and possesses good balance and integration of leaf flavors. It would be an excellent choice as an introduction to the genre. No single component dominates this blend, but you can taste all of them, and they get along well.

The flavor of the Turkish has a certain brilliance that is ephemerally suggestive of a Balkan blend. The Latakia and Perique play only condimental roles, and I find that so refreshing. In a world where blenders use condiment leaves to clobber their blends with flavor, Tarler uses them here only to compliment the tobacco. I should note as an aside that the Perique used by C & D in general, and this blend in particular, is the best I have ever tasted -- lush and figgy, not rough and peppery.

After cracking open a 3 year-old tin, I think that the C&D ad copywriters are being very modest. This is hardly a 'middle of the road' blend, particularly when one experiences the interplay of the Latakia, Turkish and Perique components of this tasty blend. The Va's contribute a restrained sweetness throughout. Perhaps not as full as Yale Mixture (or Engine 99, for that matter), this is a hearty tobacco worthy of your attention.

I tried to like this tobacco because the cut, humidity level and aroma in the tin all said, "Yes." Once lit, however, my palate said, "no."

I could find little variation in the flavor which was mundane and quite one dimensional. The Virginia component was particularly weak. There are many fine Latakia laden blends on the market today. I just don't think this is one of them.

The latakia is a light addition that provides a little smokiness and woodiness. The perique adds a slight spice, and the Turkish is mild, too. The aged Virginias are nearly the star flavor: slightly earthy, grassy, and a tangy sweetness from the red Va. Burns well, and cool with little moisture. As per C&D's description, this is a "middle of the road" blend. For a beginner, this is a three star blend, but an experienced English smoker will find this not only too light, but that few of the variety of flavors stand out for attention. How one likes this will depend on what you want out of an all day English mixture.

During the past year, I have become a devoted fan of Mr. Pease's Samarra. So much so, in fact, that I considered stoping right there. I will always keep Samarra on hand. A friend is quite enthused about C&D blends. I thought I would give them a whirl. My goal was to find one similar to Samarra. My study of C&D blends led me to Plantation Evening. After reading the comments here; especially those of my esteemed reviewing colleague Beer this was the one to try. One of the charac- teristics of Samarra that really grabbed me is that at the last of the bowl the Perique kicks in. There is no other way to describe it but that ist smolders". When that happened with Samarra, I thought I was in heaven.

The first times I tried Plantation Evening it was in smaller gauge bowls. I notest the fuller taste and the sweetnes;. However the smoldering quality was not there. Several times I have tried it in my favorite large bowled, rusticated Savinelli. As with being at the top of a roller coaster, ZING! The Perique kicks in and WOW. The "smolder" factor is right there. No disrespect to Mr. Pease but Samarra is to Plantation Evening as "country mouse'is to 'city mouse". Both use good tobaccos and are fine blends in their own right. It is just that when one is looking for something refined you go to city mouse.

Not bad, not excellent, neither strong nor light...This blend just seem to impersonate the "medium" in every aspect, and it's best described by the advertisement. No leaf is predominant here, the balance is outstanding and the smoothness is at the highest level. Cut and humidity are ok, they make packing and smoking very easy. Easy is the best way to describe this tobacco: perfect for beginners, perfect for everyday smoke. It lacks a little personality to be a top shelf blend, but if this blend had it, it would lose the easyness that makes it almost unique: it has its peculiar place in the tobacco world and I like it like that.

I was pleasantly surprised with PE. In the tin, I smelled soury tangy flavours with an undertone of wood and/or earthiness. After lighting, I saw myself walking through a plantation. The wood / earthy / green / forest aromas was evident, layered in a nice Latakia smokiness. The only reason why I'm not giving it a 4 is because I'm biased - while doing this review, I'm also reviewing my Top 5 so far for 2015 and its not i the top 5. On a more "objective" day, could easily rate it 4. I'll come back to this review to confirm this (or not) :-)

I guess you could call this a light English, but that would be missing the point, in my opinion. Here the blend is far greater than the sum of its parts. My tin was aged over 4 years.

Upon opening the tin the aroma was a mouth-watering sourness that I don't believe I've ever experienced before. I suppose you could attribute that to the perique, but I've opened lots of perique blends that were aged longer than 4 years that never produced such an exotic aroma. The range of colors goes from golden to brown to black with an occasional green leaf thrown in for good measure.

I dried the tobacco for several hours in my gas heated house during the winter and it ended up a perfect smoking humidity. It loads easily, and seems to perform best using the Frank method. I have smoked it in a variety of pipes and a wider bowl really brings out more of the amazing flavors. The tin note is smokey, sweet and herbal. Its flavor is smokey, but the other tobaccos are allowed to shine throughout the bowl. The perique appears to bring all the flavors forward, and it even shows itself once and a while. In my opinion, it's the perique that makes this blend so exciting, even though it's probably present in small amounts.

Can a light English be exciting? I don't know but this is an exciting blend that ages well and could very well be an all day smoke. I find it appropriate for any time of day or night.

The description of this blend is right on target. Some very good weeds were used in the making of this fine blend. Upon opening the tin, a real nice aroma comes forth and there seems to be a nice range of color. Room note is, to me, on the border of pleasant and tolerable. The wife didn't complain when smoking in my usual outside perch. It does seem to grow on you as far as the taste goes. It does produce a nice amount of smoke and burns to a nice ash at the end of the pipe. All in all, I would recommend this blend.

Craig's tin description is tersely accurate, and to me, Plantation Evening is just a touch too "middle of the road" for my tastes. There's only a faint breeze of Latakia and the Virginias lack pop, with the perique, in an about-face for an English, providing the steady footing. The Turkish is also restrained. All in all, it's a very pleasant blend with all the right ingredients, and I can see how many will make it an all-day smoke. It's toasty, spicy and "reasonably light," as the blender says, but it lacks depth. One of our colleagues compared PE to Samarra, but to me they are leagues apart. However, this is a fine choice when you are in the mood for something mild-to-medium and undemanding.

I obtained a 2 ounce tin of this bulk blend at the end of Nov and just cracked it open two weeks ago - mid Feb. I tried it based on the reviews here and C&D's own description as a medium English. At first sight the blend obviously had a lot less Latakia than other C&D English-style blends I've tried before. This observation carried through into the pipe as I kept drawing, and drawing , and drawing trying to coax more traditional (by today's standards) of "English" out of the smoke. I finally concluded that the Latakia and the fact that the blend is a non-aromatic must qualify it as an English. I say this because had I not read these descriptions I would have taken this to be an "Orientalized" VAPer with the Latakia just being another oriental component. Actually, I DO see this as more a VaPer (or Balkan/Perique - BalPer?) blend than what we usually call English.

All that said, I enjoyed this blend a lot, at least the half tin I've thus far consumed. It seems to do very well as an everyday or any-time-of-day smoke. I enjoy it even as a first of day smoke almost as much as I do their Bayou Morning. The orientals work well with the Virginias, the Perique is up front and spicy and the Latakia is more of a seasoning.

The only draw back for me personally (and something that may just be my personal chemistry) is a rather lingering wicked ashy aftertaste that I do not like and which keeps this off my "all day smoke" short list. But I would not hesitate recommending this "English" to Latakia-shy fumadores - a sip or two of scotch went a long way to palate cleansing.

3 stars (so far; subject to change). Update 12-03-2010: After nearly finishing my entire 2 oz. tin I must re-rate Plantation Evening. While my opinion that it is a tasty Orientalized VaPer with a Latakia kicker still holds true , that aftertaste I mentioned has become intolerable for me. Now, several of my friends smoke this and like it very much. However, for me the last half of the bowl turns decidedly acrid. I have tried varying my draw frequency, the depth of that draw, and the pipe smoked. No relief. Last night I was awakened twice by it; I had to go to brush my teeth each time.

For me, when I have a yen for a "medium" English I will stick with C&D's Stratfordshire

Update July 30, 2010:

I must be losing my mind, or my palate. One of them to be sure. After several months of laying in my long term storage cabinet I smoked the remainder of this tin this week. All of it, bowl after bowl, until it was gone. NOW I really like this stuff. I am going to reassess my entire review paradigm and tasting procedures. I need a formal protocol. I just might begin ignoring my own opinions. Either my tin was not well mixed (doubtful), the blend aged quickly and well (possible but not likely[?]), or....??? I am buying some more soon.

I'm one of those people who strongly believes that Perique and Latakia should never be mixed. Unfortunately, this is one of those blends that mixes them. To me, each has a distinct taste of its own, and to mix the two together marrs the flavour of both. This blend is a lighter English blend, and has a strange taste because of the combination of the two spice tobaccos. Its predominant flavour is sour, and it seems that's all I can get out of this one. I can say I definitely do not prefer it, and would only recommend it to those who enjoy mixing Latakia and Perique.

Truly another masterpiece of blending from C&D. The flavor of all ingredients can be tasted throughout the pipeful, and enjoyed to the bottom of the bowl. No bite or toasting of the tongue with this, just pure intermingling tobacco experiences. If I could have just one blend to smoke forever, this would be in contention. Recommended for the middle of the road English lover, or anyone looking for a truly delightful smoke (good with a pale ale), good all day. Update: After several contemplative bowls of Plantation Evening, I have come to realize this should have another star. It really makes me feel like what my ancestors might have had on a plantation in Virginia (my home state), years ago. Excellent blend of superb tobaccos.

As the advertisement says...a middle of the road blend. Very nice when one wants a bit of latakia but not an overwhelming amount. Agree with all the reviews that it is well blended...no one leaf stands out. Starts out sweet. Very nice ribbon cut. I have been alternating between Yale... bought an English sampler and only have opened the two but both similar however YM has a bit more latakia and less perique. I like both for different occasions. This can be a good all day blend if one smokes all day. Nice...will let it age and try others in the sampler.

This blend performs just as described, mild and middle of the road. It is easy to pack and smoke; I had no relights after the initial charring and true light. I tasted the perique more from mid bowl on, the latikia was blended with a very light hand. I could use this as an all day smoke; there is nothing exceptional, but it is a tasty blend. The tin I smoked was 6 months old, I would be interested to see how this tastes after further aging.

Although this is a nice smoke and one that should satisfy as an all day straight smoke, it just lacks character. Prefer C&D?s Yale Mixture to this one. And the fact that there are so many good English blends that one might choose, cannot go better than two stars.

Another Hit from the folks at C&D. On first light you get a wonderful, sweet, Tasty exotic smoke that reminds you of cool breesy eve in the Bayou....Nothing jumps to main stage- Its a choir of flavors. Latakia plays fair with others in this one. It never gets boring, and frankly you don't have to pay attention.....The flavor is always there and it becomes a part of what ever you are doing....Perique never gets strong, All the things that can get out of control in a blend don't. A good old fashioned, well blended delight. If you like the old favorites- You love this.

If your taste is jaded and dulled by smoking strong Balkans, then you might find this one boring. I definitely do not. Plantation Evening is a very smooth and complex smoke. The blend is well-balanced and delivers a lot of different tastes without being harsh or biting in any way. I am usually quite sensitive to excessive perique, but I have no problem with Plantation Evening. I can taste that perique is present but it is in no way overpowering.

I agree with chaplikc that this is slightly reminiscent of Yale Mixture (which, again like chaplikc, is one of my favorites). I think the similarity comes from style as much as content. Both blends are well-balanced with no predominating taste and a lot of variety. This is a good all-day choice. Highest recommendation; another winner from C&D.

This is exactly as it is advertized: "A middle of the road English" It really did not do much for me. With so many good ones out there, I can't see purchasing any more of this one. Much prefer Star of the East, Longevity, Pirate Kake, etc... Oh yeah, good quality leaf, perfect moisture, good burning qualities, blah, blah, blah. Who knows? It might be your Arcadia...

In the tin the range of colors from the light golden turkish to the dark latakia makes a compelling visual; the tin note itself is understated but promises something the blend actually delivers on when smoked; the construction and moisture is spot-on for perfect smoking out of the tin; and the smoke itself is nice and rounded, with the latakia and turkish actually helping to set the stage for an unusually well-joined note of perique and VA to linger, rather than just blotting it out.

What a fabulous blend this is! Craig Tarler has hit a perfect balance between the Latakia, Perique, Turkish, and Virginias. The smoke is wonderfully complex, with the sweetness of the Virginias, the smokiness of the Latakia, the creaminess of the Turkish, and the spicyness of the Perique all having a chance to shine through. We've all heard those hypothetical "what tobaccos would you want with you on a desert island" questions. If I was only allowed four tobaccos, this would be one of them. Four BIG stars!

I really like this tobacco. It's pretty in the pouch, smells good, and tastes great! Well balanced, smokey, spicey, nutty, goodness. A real winner. C&D blends are very well crafted, and bargain priced. I have read that some feel they may have too many varieties. Personally, I would rather have too many choices than not enough. This one and Yale Mixture are my favorite English blends at this time.

Update: I have read that Craig Tarler came across this blend by making a mistake on a batch of Oriental Silk. Be that as it may, it is still one of my favorites. You could spend a lot more money, and not have a blend this good. Give it a shot!

I found this tobacco to be more than middle of the road owing to the liberal dose of Perique. I will update this review if warranted after finishing this container.

Later 10/19/04: This is a light colored ribbon cut tobacco with lesser amounts of light brown ribbon. It also contains various sizes of black more chunky tobacs so some care must be taken to ensure that an average amount of the black gets into your bowl. My sample was leaning to the moist side of the spectrum but smoked fine. This is a fine blend when you want something lighter than a 965. I thought it was about a 3 of 4 stars for me. My pouch is still very young and will probably improve with some aging.

Perique in a latakia mixture always makes me suspicious, but this is a good tobacco: medium strength, nice body without harshness, a creamy and not pungent taste. It is so smooth that you might be tempted to inhale!

If you enjoy the concept of GLPease Samarra but would like a tastier, richer version of it... you will be delighted by Plantation Evening!

This is very good . As others have mentioned the description is accurate. This is perfect when I am in the mood for a medium english blend with slightly pronounced turkish features. The turkish in this realy shines through but is not over bearing. This blend has alot of qualities in it that remind me of yale mixture which is one of my favorites from C&D. It is interesting that another reviewer had some of the same observations that I have on this one, I feel that this is a variation of Yale mixture. Chances are if you enjoy Yale mixture you will enjoy this as well. Highly recommended for english lovers.

The description offered by C&D is right on the mark. This is truly a midd-of-the-road English blend.

Plantation Evening is a visually appealing tobacco, and the pouch aroma is light and interesting.

I could see this as an all-day smoke. Nothing overbearing, just a very nice mix of flavors. No one leaf dominates. Smooth and tasty to the very bottom of the bowl. And the flavor stayed enoyable all the way down with no suggestions of bitterness. A nice cool smoke to the end.

Burned very clean and dry. So dry in fact that I tried it in a Kirsten just to see how much moisture the aluminum radiator stem could catch. There was a surprisingly small amount.

Overall, good stuff. Not overly critical of technique, so it will let you get away with a bit of inattentiveness without searing your tongue.

This was my Holy Grail of tobacco when I first started trying English blends. I bought a pound and put half away to cellar. That was in May of 1999. Today I filled up a huge Peterson freehand with the stuff and surprisingly, it's not any drier than it was when first purchased. It lit on the first try and burned as good as anything. The tobacco did not "meld" as well as I expected, though. It's not harsh or anything, just the same as when bought. Overall, it's a very nice, light (to me), English blend. The different tobaccos each come out in the smoke, but in a very subdued way. My palate needs more flavor than this on an everyday basis, but for a newbie looking into English blends, this is the ticket.

General Comment for All C&D Blends. So far, all my samples have burned clean and dry. They contain quality ingredients. If purchased fresh from C&D, I find that I must adjust the moisture content, and let them rest for 3-6 months before sampling. They change flavor dramatically in just a few months.

My sample of Plantation Evening is now a bit over one year old. It has aged into a delightful blend. All in all, it fits its description as a "medium English blend with a delightful flavor". In many ways, it is comparable to a more meaty, somewhat less refined version of the Dunhill Standard blends. It has the same colorful composition, but is coarse cut rather than ribbon cut. The tin aroma is a bit less pungent than the Dunhill's. It has a lower nicotine strength and less zing than the other C&D blends that I have tried. The taste is consistent throughout most of the bowl, and gains quite a bit of strength at the bottom. The Orientals and the Latakia are the dominant flavors. It burns clean and dry leaving a darkish gray ash. It is a tad too strong to be an all day smoke for me. If you think Dunhill Standard is too light, try this. If you find Plantation Evening too strong, try the Dunhill.

A full spectrum of tobacco colors, from bright Virginias to dark Latakia with some brown hints in between make this blend is pleasing to the eye. A nice well-balanced blend this appears to be from the aroma upon opening the bag; lightly smoky and you can smell the perique if you close your eyes and concentrate, while the natural citrus sweetness of the Virginias tickles lightly in the background, a complex blend with no predominate smell. It seductively calls, “Smoke me!” While I thought this was a bit drier than I appreciate (not crumbly), and since I didn’t want to over moisten it, I set some tobacco overnight in a tupperware container with a sponge lightly moistened with distilled water. In the morning, the sponge was almost dry, but the tobacco was perfect - still much drier than most. This tobacco packs very easily and took a flame very well after the initial char. As a grey-white ash slowly filled the bowl, smoke blissfully rose from the bowl. I wanted to smoke eagerly, getting all the flavors I possibly can dancing upon my palate, but I held back. Gently puffing, it burned so smooth, dry and cool. This is not an overbearing English blend, yet a smoky spiciness tantalizingly punctuated each puff. There was the hint of sweet nuts that ethereally drifted in and out of the entire bowl. Wonderfully complex. This is one that begs to be French inhaled and enjoyed. It smells of roasted black walnuts.